Like a California King

Doug and I didn't get to the motel in San Jose till pretty late last night, but even still, we stayed up a few more hours, drinking beer and trying to hang on to the last few hours of our road trip. Morning came incredibly early, we were up and out of the room before 8:00am. For the first time in a week, I drove my car. The airport was only about a mile away, and it looked like it was straight out of The Jetsons! I was sorry to see Doug go, hes been a blast to hang out with, but as we speak, his flight has already landed, and he's safe and sound enjoying SXSW, I just know I'm definitely grateful to have had him along for the send off.

I went back to the motel and attempted to catch a bit more sleep, but it was to no avail; I kept getting texts and calls so I decided to go with it. I repacked the car - don't think I improved it any, but at least Phoenix's kennel is up closer to me now. I cleaned out the room and checked out. It was cold and raining off and on all morning, and I'm a nervous highway driver as it is, so the rain really kept me on my toes. It only took a little bit over an hour to get to San Francisco.

I didn't really know what to do there, but was damn sure I wanted to find the Golden Gate Bridge and cross it first thing! It was easy to find, actually happened to be on the same road I came into town on. Driving though downtown San Francisco was really cute too, beautiful architecture and really lovely views. So, I was feeling really giddy as I approached and finally crossed the bridge. I was being such a dorky tourist, snapping pictures the whole way, I even got out on the other side to take some more in the rain.

Before leaving San Jose, I had verified that it wasn't really feasible for me to stay in San Francisco, even the Motel 6 wanted $100 for a night, so I decided to press on through the next couple small towns. All was well, but by the time I made it to the beach and then to the San Rafael area I was starving! I stopped at a cute little place called The Broken Drum, and since it was raining and gross I just sorta decided to hang out there for the afternoon. They had wifi and micro-brew beer so the decision came pretty easily ;) In fact, I overstayed and ended up with a parking ticket - oops!

While I was at the restaurant I booked a room in a nearby motel. As far as I can remember, this is my first solo hotel room. Its not a bad little place, king size bed actually! Flying solo is definitely different, and I have to admit, getting on the highway by myself this morning was freaky at first, but after a few miles, I was jammin out to the radio, pulling over to check things out, basically doing whatever I wanted, it was fun, and I quickly felt really empowered :)